I have had very similar experiences with nude photos of myself helping to empower me and build more body confidence. And my dear, patient husband has been a wonderful catalyst for this as well. Although, he rarely is the recipient of said photos either. They tend to get sent to the men in my life who don’t get to see me naked every day in real life. And for whatever reason, their validation means a lot to me. I am currently working on an article on a similar topic, but I am waiting to hear back from Medium editors about the regulations for sharing nude photography on here. Because I want to be bold enough to share what has brought me validation, empowerment, and liberation, what has made me feel beautiful and confident in my body, scary as that may be. But with the proper permissions from Medium, I am going all out and sharing. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It is helpful to know that I am alone in this!